âKnow thyselfâ is an ethical imperative that was one of the touchstones of Greek philosophy, denoting one of the chief responsibilities of human beings. But how is this link between self-knowledge and morality affected when part of our âself-knowledgeâ becomes data about our genetic makeup and the health risk factors to which it may alert us?

If we can have access to information about whether we carry, in our DNA, genetic markers for specific diseases or conditions, does this make us responsible for obtaining this knowledge, and are we then responsible for taking action to manage any risk? How far, realistically, are we able to act upon this knowledge? How reliable a predictor of future health problems is the information that recent scientific discoveries in genetics can provide? How far is susceptibility to a given condition still highly conditional on complex factors in our environment?

In the first of two talks from January's Cafe, Dr Nigel Williams introduces the work of his group on the role of genetic markers in indicating susceptibility to common neuropsychiatric conditions.


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Artist/Composer: Cardiff Philosophy Cafe
Keywords: genomics; genetics; biomarkers; copy number variations; snips; susceptibility

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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